The Invisibility of Feminist Artists, Poets, and Writers in Latin American History

By: Nuria Magdalena Webb

In the art historical accounts that have served as major references and study, men are more than not the configurers of art history. The representation of women in the artistic field is severely diminutive and their contributions are ascertained as inconsequential. The exclusion of Latin American artists is even more prevalent.

Today we will learn about Latin American feminists in the arts and be reminded of their importance.

Paz Errázuriz

Errázuriz is a Chilean photographer who captured marginalized communities such as sex workers, the LGBTQ+ community, female psychiatric patients, and circus performers during the military dictatorship of Chile in the late 70s to 80s.

And to make her more admirable (might I add!), she carried her camera and photographed real life during a time when it was not acceptable for women to be taking photographs. She once stated that, “the need to photograph was constant, but one had to be extremely careful.”

Her practice is embedded in a history of resistance against authoritarian rule, which most, if not all, Latin American nations have experienced.

Tarsila do Amaral

Do Amaral is a Brazilian painter known for ‘inventing’ a world where Brazilian identity forged from diversity and a desire for post-slavery liberation are present.

I have found that people often forget Brazilian women when discussing Latin American figures. Conjuring her Brazilian identity, Do Amaral demanded the world to admire Brazilian culture and learn about their history. Often, Brazilian culture and art was overlooked, in part because Europe was considered the epicenter of the arts, not Latin America.

Julia de Burgos

De Burgos was a literary foremother of the Nuyorican Movement, advocating for the independence of Puerto Rico and civil rights for women and African/Afro-Caribbean writers.

But her influence was not just on the island. She served as a voice for the immigrant community in New York and criticized the United States for failing to live up to their democratic ideals and grant Puerto Rico the independence and autonomy they sought after. It was through poetry and writing that she expressed her thoughts on social and economic reforms, as well as her love for her homeland and her wish for independence.

Río Grande de Loíza addresses the pain and violence suffered by natives of the island and enslaved Africans along the Puerto Rican river. It is one of her most known and impactful works.

Her poems are read by a new generation of female writers, who continue to struggle against the colonial power of the United States.

Luisa Capetillo

Capetillo was a pioneer novelist and scholar working through the lens of feminism in Puerto Rico.

Although the history of Latin America Feminism has received substantial attention in the last two decades, there are few references to Capetillo in this literature. Capetillo's Mi Opinion provides a crossroads for the study of feminism, literature, labor history, immigration, intellectual history, and US-Caribbean relations at the turn of the 20th century. "It is a call for change and action in such areas,'' stated Capetillo in A Nation of Women.

Gloria Anzaldua

Anzaldua was a scholar of Chicana feminism, cultural theory, and queer theory. Her most notable work is Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, an autobiographical work that examines the Chicano and Latinx experience through the lens of gender, identity, race and issues of colonialism.

For those who may not know, Chicano or Chicana is an identity of some Mexican Americans in the U.S first formed in the 60s to express pride in a shared culture, ethnic, and community identity.

Anzaldua analyzes the cultural and social differences between Mexican culture and American culture and how many immigrants fall in between, which is another reason for the creation of the term Chicano/a.

Victoria Santa Cruz

Cruz is an Afro-Peruvian activist, choreographer, and composer. Her experiences with racism are what sparked most of her work. She is known for producing work that attempts to reclaim and reconstruct forgotten Black experiences in Latin America, but more specifically Peru, where colorism is still very prevalent.

Her most notable work is Me Gritaron Negra. The origin of this poem comes from her experiences with racism at a young age. It was from these experiences that she became conscious of her identity as an Afro-Latina woman in the Americas.

Latinx women have played vital roles in both the history of Latin America as well as U.S. history, but we have yet to be taught about them in the American education system.

This is just a miniscule amount of Latin American history through a feminist lens. There is still so much more, and everyone should continue to delve into the world of Latin American art history beyond this article.